Meaning & use
hair stylist
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person whose job is to cut, color and arrange people's hair, usually in a salon.
Grammar: Countable: she works as a hair stylist.
Patterns
- a hair stylist at a salon
- a hair stylist for someone
My hair stylist suggested a shorter cut for summer.
She trained for two years to become a hair stylist.
The bride hired a hair stylist to come to the hotel.
nouncountable
A person who prepares the hair of actors, models or presenters for film, television or photo shoots.
Grammar: Often used with for a production: the hair stylist for the show.
Patterns
- hair stylist for a show
The hair stylist on the film set repaired the actor's curls between takes.
A celebrity hair stylist designed the model's look for the magazine cover.
Word forms
| plural | hair stylists |
|---|
Common combinations
- book a hair stylist
- I need to book a hair stylist before the wedding.
- professional hair stylist
- She is a professional hair stylist with ten years' experience.
- celebrity hair stylist
- The celebrity hair stylist charged a fortune.
- ask your hair stylist
- Ask your hair stylist which product is best for dry hair.
- salon hair stylist
- A salon hair stylist can also advise on color.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hairdresser
- Hairdresser means almost the same thing, but it is more common in British English and may sound more traditional.
- barber
- A barber mainly cuts men's hair and trims beards, while a hair stylist works on all hair types.
- coiffeur
- Coiffeur is a formal, French-sounding word for a hairdresser, usually used for a fashionable salon.
- colorist
- A colorist specializes in dyeing hair, while a hair stylist does cutting and styling too.
Word family
Commonly confused: hair stylist or hairdresser? hair stylist or barber?
hair stylist vs hairdresser
Hairdresser and hair stylist are nearly interchangeable, but hairdresser is the older British word.
hair stylist vs barber
A barber traditionally cuts men's hair and shaves beards.
Practice
Before the photo shoot, a ___ arranged the model's hair into loose waves.
Choose one answer.
A hair stylist is the person. A hair dryer and hair spray are products or tools, and a haircut is the result.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hair stylist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.